Meaning & use
horribly
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
In a way that is shocking, painful or deeply unpleasant.
Grammar: Describes a verb: the plan went horribly wrong.
Patterns
- go horribly wrong
- die horribly
The experiment went horribly wrong.
The accident left the car horribly twisted.
He was horribly burned in the fire.
adverbnot comparableinformal
Extremely, used to emphasize a bad quality.
Grammar: Comes before an adjective: horribly late.
Patterns
- horribly + adjective
I'm horribly sorry for the mix-up.
The soup tasted horribly salty.
She felt horribly guilty about forgetting his birthday.
Common combinations
- go horribly wrong
- The surprise party went horribly wrong.
- horribly embarrassed
- He felt horribly embarrassed after tripping on stage.
- horribly late
- The train was horribly late.
- horribly expensive
- The hotel was horribly expensive.
- horribly disfigured
- The statue was horribly disfigured by vandals.
Synonyms and how they differ
- terribly
- Terribly is the most common informal intensifier and is a little gentler than horribly.
- awfully
- Awfully is milder and often used for small matters, as in awfully kind.
- dreadfully
- Dreadfully sounds more British and old-fashioned than horribly.
- ghastly
- Ghastly is an adjective, not an adverb, and is stronger in suggesting something deathly or shocking.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: horribly or horrible?
horribly vs horrible
Horrible is the adjective, so use it with nouns; horribly is the adverb and goes with verbs or adjectives.
Practice
The meeting ran ___ long, and everyone was exhausted.
Choose one answer.
An adverb is needed to modify the adjective long. Horrible and horrid are adjectives, and horror is a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “horribly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.